Dain gave me free reign to write about whatever I wanted that falls under the umbrella of mission prep. So, I decided to write about what I believe has been the best preparation for me before I head out to the distant and foreign land that the natives call 'West Virginia'.

Let's start at the beginning of my grand tale.

Growing up, and actually until very recently, I always saw missionaries as these people that just came over for dinner every now and then and had a lot of rules that they had to follow. It honestly didn't occur to me that missionaries had stories of their own, with many different personalities and hopes and dreams for the future.

That is, until Elder Awesome (obvious name change? check.) came along.

A couple of weeks after I got into the Single's Ward, I was called to be a ward missionary and I was now working pretty closely with the Elders. They became my friends. I didn't even know that it was possible to be friends with missionaries! I guess I had just assumed that there was a rule against it somewhere.

Anyways, more on Elder Awesome. He was the first missionary that I met that I realized had a legitimate personality. He liked hearing about my life, and he offered on more than one occasion to beat up guys from the YSA ward that were making my life confusing. He was like a big brother to me, in all honesty.

It had always been hard for me to invite friends to church stuff that was actually churchy. (Invite to a dance? You got it. Invite to a fireside? Now let's just stop and think about this for a second...) But he taught me that it wasn't nearly as scary as I was thinking. And because he was there for me, I finally got up the guts to see if any of my closest friends would be interested. It surprised me how willing they were to hear more! (Plug for member missionary work? Check.) He taught my very best friend in the whole world. He always told me what a good missionary I'd be once I got myself my own little black name tag--before I had even made the decision to go. He helped me to grow a deep love for this work. And I'll admit it--I cried when he got transferred.

Fast forward to a couple months after he got transferred. I've got things going on aaaallll over the place.

And I am extremely unhappy for no reason.

The sisters in my area text me, asking if I'd like to go on splits. I think about it for a second, realize that they picked the one time in my day that I didn't have anything going on, and went for it.

The fog lifted.

I felt the same joy that I had when I was teaching the lessons with Elder Awesome. I realized what it was! Missionary work. The feeling that I get when I have an opportunity to tell somebody about the Gospel is unparalleled. I started going out with the sisters more and more. It's gotten to the point where we've said that when I leave for West Virginia it's just me getting transferred. I just love being with the sisters so much! As soon as I get into the car with them, all the stress and worry just melts away.

I have been with these sisters as they have been shooed away from homes, as they have been dropped by investigators, and as they knock on so many unopened doors.

Yet I still love this work. I love it, I adore it, I delight in it. There's just no way that I could possibly describe just how happy this work makes me.

So, moral of the story: go out with the missionaries in your ward! If they're Elders, ask them who they'd like you to help teach. Find sisters that are close by and tell them to take you out with them whenever they want. Try your hand at being a pseudo-missionary, and I promise you that any fears you have will be settled, any worries will stop in their tracks, and you will learn how to be a better missionary heading over to ye ol' MTC.